Big Brother

Cisco is happy help the Chinese government filter the web. [1] Google is happy to quietly delete search results if local governments instruct them to. [2] And today we learn from The Business Journal that ClearChannel, the giant that devoured American radio, is happy to delete the Dixie Chicks from their playlists for speaking out against the coming war, Smothers Brothers style. [3]

Welcome to the machine in which the engines of commerce do for the government what the government is not allowed to do to you, in which your rights to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and your right to privacy and your right to free speech are academic anachronisms.

Welcome to the 21st century, in which the Constitution is irrelevant, because big brother has been privatized.

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[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2264508.stm
[2] http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/google/ (I must say, in all fairness, I was able to rediscover this link by searching Google for keywords: Google filtering!)
[3] TBJ link and Smothers Brothers reference by Eschaton
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